New Niger State ICT park 'will create thousands of jobs'

A new information and communication technology (ICT) park in Niger State will provide thousands of jobs for people in the region.

Some 975 million naira (£3.9 million) is to be spent on the Minna complex in Nigeria, which will be built and equipped to international standards and will eventually make the state a reference point for ICT.

This is according to commissioner for science and technology Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Katcha, whose comments were cited in the Daily Trust.

He outlined the plans during a visit to Omatek Computers in Lagos recently. The latter firm will be employed in delivering the ICT park, as well as Galaxy Backbone, he explained.

The development forms part of Niger State governor Babangida Aliyu's plans to alleviate poverty in the region through the employment opportunities it will present, he added.

Since 2001, investments in telecoms and ICT infrastructure in Nigeria have totalled $18 billion (£11.3 billion), according to chief executive of communications commission Ernest Ndukwe, who was quoted in This Day.